


Dead End Jobs And The Return Of Asshole Family AKA I'm Not Gonna Finish This Story

by dieForgotten



Series: Humanstuck Erikar AU [2]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Background Emotional Turmoil, Grocery Store, Humanstuck, M/M, Slurs, Trans Male Character, anonymous letters from an ex-homophobe, everyone goes to get a higher education except karkat, it's karkat, not from signless, signless is an asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 16:38:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10880763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dieForgotten/pseuds/dieForgotten
Summary: Karkat is working at a grocery store when his dad pays a visit, acting differently. He also finds out that his friends are coming back for the summer.Chronologically the first part of this humanstuck AU. Critique appreciated. More to come, hopefully.





	1. Chapter 1

9 AM. Way to early for a grocery store to be open, in your opinion. This is a time for convenience stores to be open, you know, the early morning emergency rush for eggs and milk. Grocery stores are meant for the evening, stockpiling supplies for  the week. Sane people know this, but you're lucky enough to live in a town full of inconsiderate assholes and psychos. So 9 AM it is.

"Good morning, Vantas!" You resist the urge to flip off you cheery-ass supervisor. It's not her fault you ran out of coffee and this job is the only thing keeping you from homelessness right now.

"Morning, Karen," That came out more chipper than you thought it would. Score one less scowl from that bitch today! Things are looking up.

You go over to your assigned register. Tying your apron, you prepare for last evenings hungover alcoholics and grandparents.

A couple dozen Gatorade loads later you realize what day it is. Fuck. You also realize that you are the only cashier to show up. Fuck your useless piece of shit co-workers. 

Today is the day your dad comes in. Every Monday at 10:30, like fucking clockwork, he comes in. You forgot to emotionally prepare yourself for his bullshit. Four years, you've been out of his house and you still have to see his mug every goddamned day. Kankri had the right idea. He moved out before he came out, cutting all ties with your family. You'd been a bit less tactful, coming out as a guy at 16 and then suffering his religious wrath for the next two years. Not being able to go to college, and with low funds, you had to stay in this tiny-ass town. Maybe you'll stay here forever. Probably.

"Did you find everything alright, _sir_ _?_ _"_ you say glaring at his items. Lettuce, tomatoes, various other produce that you can't afford, salmon, soy milk, free range eggs, it's like he's bragging. Not a can in sight. You wouldn't guess by his food that he'd been single for a good decade. 

"Er, yes," he mutters as he hands you his debit card. You quirk an eyebrow at his sheepish tone. He's not normally aggressive, but he at least has  _some_  arrogance to him. You bag his things and cast your eye to the increasingly populated aisles. 

"Karkat, could we have a word on your break?" Your head whips around and your eyebrows disappear into your bangs for a moment. You thought he was too proud to socialize with the queers. It didn't matter if you were his son. Jesus took precedence over everything. You take a deep breath and relax your face. Now it's your turn to deliver a nice cold shoulder to the ice king himself. Present it to him on a platter with a side of hail and snow, garnished with a goddamn blizzard. 

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel comfortable socializing with customers. I hope you understand," you say as you give him your most empty smile. "Have a nice day!"

Nailed it. He walks away looking slightly dejected and you turn to face your next customer. Ew, Raisin Bran.

\----------

Your break finally comes with the arrival of a few more employees. You head outside, and reach into your pocket. Oh, right. You sigh as you pull out your cellphone. After two years you'd think the cravings would go away, but here you are, reaching for a lighter and a pack that aren't there. Shit, you've got a text. 

"hey kar ivve got the summer off me and a feww others are gonna come dowwn and vvisit for a bit"

"COOL. WHEN IS THIS GOING TO BE? ALSO WHO'S COMING?"

"in a feww days and fef vvris gam kan egbert lalonde and me"

"SHIT. DOES JOHN HAVE TO COME?"

"kar hes your friend a course hes comin"

"UGH. I KNOW BUT SOMETIMES HE CAN BE A PIECE OF SHIT."

"hes a good kid kar"

"OK, OK. HEY, DID YOUR DAD EVER FIND OUT THE LETTER WRITER?"

"no but he finally wwore him dowwn about the whole fag enabler schtick the asshole is noww sendin somethin akin to lovve letters"

"JESUS. THAT DID A COMPLETE 180."

"yeah im guessin its a wwoman"

"OR A REALLY CLOSETED DUDE."

"did you knoww that they mentioned your brother and my cousin in earlier letters"

"THAT'S WEIRD."

"yeah they said somethin like 'howw could you alloww your nepheww to commit such atrocities you are a prominent member a the community you must turn to god and bluh bluh' noww its all like 'you havve changed my mind and i wwish to send my regrets for howw poorly i handled my emotions and wwould like to discuss the issue in more letters' so its obvvious this chick is enamoured wwith my dad and hes havvin a blast wwith it evverytime he gets a letter he sends me a vvoicemail a him laughin his ass of"

"FUCK, THAT'S ACTUALLY HILARIOUS. ANY WAY I'VE GOT TO GO GET SOME FOOD BEFORE MY BREAK IS OVER. SEE YOU."

"bye kar"

You turn off your phone and head for the nearest fast food place. On the way, you wonder how disappointed your friends will be with your life. A dead-end job, a crappy apartment complex and you figured out pretty quickly that the 'freshman fifteen' applies to anyone moving away from home, not just college students. You wonder why you care so much. It's not like they became friends with you because you were cool. You were the furthest thing from cool. 

You jog over the crosswalk, wondering how you're going to get ready for your friends. A few days isn't much time. You sigh and resign yourself to the fact that your life is going nowhere for now.


	2. Chapter 2

It's been two years since you've been back in town. Well, to be fair, one and a bit. You had visited the summer before last. So you can't say you'd been a complete slacker of a friend. 

Pulling up to the motel, the bickering quiets a bit. You feel like a PTA dad taking his shitty spawn to a soccer game. The whole time it had been:

_"Gamzee, stop kicking my leg!"_

_"Sorry, sis. Ain't my fault my legs got no room,"_

_"If I might interject, you could have chosen not to sit behind Eridan,"_

_"_ _ **Thank**_   _you, Rose,"_

_"Hey! Who's up for a game of I spy!"_

_"Ah, John, that probably isn't wise,"_

_"Oh! I got one! I spy, with my little eye, something that is...uhhh...green,"_

_"Gee, Gam, I dunno could it possibly be a fuckin' tree?"_

_"Shit, bro! I guess it's your turn,"_

_"I spy, w-with my little eye, a ditch that I could roll us into if you all don't shut up and let me driwe!"_

_"Eridan, that's not how you play,"_

_"John, I sw-wear if you don't stop bein' a bloody idiot for the rest of this driwe I w-will punch you in the mouth 'til those teeth a' yours align themselwes,"_

That verbal scrap had ended with John throwing a pair of your socks out the window. Clearly the trip had been hard on him as well. 

"Alright, guys, let's get our stuff in the rooms!" The aforementioned destroyer of semi-nice socks declared, stretching his arms over his head.

You walk into the office to get your keys and are greeted by a familiar face. 

"Eridan! My favourite wizard boy!" Roxy waves you over to the counter. "How's your cousin? Haven't heard much of him since he skipped town with Fussypants."

You sigh dramatically. Of course everyone thinks you're up on the story. "Really, Rox, are people still talkin' about that? He's fine."

"Well duh! It's, like, the only interesting thing that's happened here within the last bazillion years! There's the family drama, the preachers son turned runaway, then there's the whole thing where the two biggest virgins on the planet get together-"

"Rox, that w-was literally sewen years ago," you interrupt. She pouts. Fuck, you hate it when she pouts. "Hey, remember those letters my dad kept gettin'?" Her face breaks into a grin. You spend a few more minutes catching up before a very angry looking Vriska storms in.

"How much longer do we have to wait! I need to piss!" God, you hate her. 

Once you've got everything situated you decide, you'll go to Karkat's place. He's not nearly as annoying as some of your other friends.


End file.
